Xinglong Lemon Duck

Xinglong Lemon Duck

　　Xinglong Overseas Chinese Farm has developed into a state-owned overseas Chinese enterprise engaged in comprehensive agriculture, industry, trade, and tourism. It is located on the beautiful Sun River in Wanning City, southeastern Hainan Island, at 18.4°N latitude and 110.1°E longitude. The area is hilly, with terrain rising from east to west and elevations ranging from 21 to 532 meters. The average annual temperature is 24.5°C, the extreme maximum temperature is 39°C, and the extreme minimum temperature is 3.4°C. The average annual rainfall is 22014 mm. Surrounded by mountains, lush with tropical crops, the environment is serene and the scenery delightful, feeling like spring all year round with superior natural conditions.

　　As you drive through Xinglong Town, there is an unassuming roadside restaurant called “Huasheng Restaurant,” a modest two-story building. It serves seafood and seasonal dishes and is known along the Donghai-Yudong Highway for its affordable prices and delicious food. Whenever we go to Sanya or visit the hot springs in Xinglong, we almost always eat here. The restaurant is run by returned overseas Chinese from Indonesia—five sisters who take on various roles as chefs, cashiers, and waitstaff, with the eldest sister naturally being the boss. The dishes here are said to be authentic Indonesian cuisine. Most employees of the Xinglong Overseas Chinese Farm are returned Indonesian overseas Chinese, which ties back to a historical event from the 1950s and 1960s. Every time we say the name of the restaurant—Huasheng—it feels like it exudes the deep patriotism of overseas Chinese.

　　The lemon duck is a must-try—the tangy, fresh duck soup has a flavor that is truly indescribable. We once asked the eldest sister, who runs the place as the boss’s wife, about the secret. She said it mainly comes down to the lemons: you slice them, add seasonings, and then dry them in the sun. In short, it’s rather complicated. We asked if she’d ever considered opening a branch in Haikou, but she just laughed and said no way—none of the five sisters wanted to leave home. “We just cook some home-style dishes,” she said. So for years now, if you want to eat lemon duck, there’s only one place: Huasheng in Xinglong. Later, we tried something called “beer duck,” which was somewhat tangy and reminiscent of lemon duck, but nowhere near as delicious or satisfying.

　　If you still have room for more, you might as well order a bowl of “leaf soup.” As the name suggests, it’s a soup made from leaves—leaves that you can only find in Xinglong. Also, the popular “plum vegetable braised pork” has a unique taste, and our colleague, Lei Pangzi, never misses it whenever he’s here.

　　Next time I’m back in Xinglong Town, I’ll definitely have the “lemon duck” again.